Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I was doing a little online shopping/research and noticed the same thing time and time again.The shortest and tightest dresses possible, stepping over, what I believe to be, the acceptable size of design and into the “plus size” arena.I also noticed that the brands that had ranges specifically targeting the same market seemed to favour the shapeless, dowdy look for clothing.

On one hand the fashion world insists that women sized at 16 plus should have the same fashion rights as their size 6 counterparts but on the other, they are saying, once you get fat you should only consider potato sacks or moo moo’s.

Now before the obvious tirade of hatred starts flowing from the fingertips of those that don’t know me, please hold your horses; take a moment to google/facebook/youtube me. You will see, that at a healthy/chubby/curvy/fat (delete as you wish) size 16/18 (depending on the store or clothes) I am speaking from a place of experience rather than sizism.

Right, that over with, back to my rant.

I am definitely frustrated with the fashions world’s resistance in accepting that women are, once again, becoming rounder and fuller. We are a strong force and we deserve to have suitable clothing that will enhance rather than squish us. Some simple additions to ranges would make all the difference, for example, the trusty pencil skirt, or cute dresses that maybe hit the knee or come just below it so that we have the option of a nice dress in varying lenghts. Something that comes with a strap thicker than a piece of string (to enable us to wear our bra's) or wide leg, high waisted trousers that are actually WIDE LEGGED.

I sincerely believe that there is no reason on this earth that a woman of my size should parade around in daisy dukes or skimming the bottom body con. In my opinion, it is entirely unnecessary and completely unfair to the general public.I also believe that there should be more choice available to us than what you find (usually hidden away downstairs, as that is where the shamefully fat are apparently meant to secretly shop) in H&M’s BIB range.

I am all for making statements with your clothing, but I believe that these statements should be made in a manner that will not scare small children and animals.

Monday, July 25, 2011

As much as I hate to say it, as women we suffer from an array of Body Image issues regardless of our shape, size, height, weight etc. I have also noticed that the areas of this supposed imperfection can change just as the seasons do because what we see around us seems to dictate the way that we view ourselves.

Even though we already know that none of us were meant to look alike we still find ourselves swayed by the general standards of the world and sometimes misjudging what we should or should not look like.

Outside of weight, muscle mass and hair colour, we have becomes obsessed with changing the parts of us that we realistically shouldn’t be able to. The elective plastic surgery figures in the UK continue to climb, with the recession having no visible effect on the lengths that we will go to, to be “perfect”. You’ll be interested to know that this percentage has risen in men and well as women.

I am not the most insecure woman in the world, and at the age of 30, I have learned my body and how to best represent/work with it but I still have those days where I wake up and feel ugly and unattractive…

I have decided to take this blog in a new direction and will begin a series of postings all about the body. They will include segments about me and my body, the stories of others, the way different people around the world view the body. If I stumble across any “helpful hints” I will post those also.

My aim is to discuss and share with the same honesty that you would find in any of the posts that have come before these on this blog and on my main blog ( www.dontthinkjustfeel.blogspot.com) .